


Tuesday

by birdcages7



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Bad Days, Copious mentions of ice cream, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, M/M, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2020-07-09
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:47:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25171852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/birdcages7/pseuds/birdcages7
Summary: Traffic to the mall didn’t swing in his favour either. It was bad enough wearing the scratchy sailor uniform in the real world, but being stuck in traffic in 80 degree heat before it was even ten was a special kind of hell. Especially when it wasn’t moving so no cool air could breeze through his car. He closed his eyes and counted to ten. If all the terrible stuff was out of the way first thing then the rest of the day would be smooth sailing.Right?
Relationships: Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington
Comments: 3
Kudos: 78





	Tuesday

Steve had always hated Tuesday. It was one of those stupid things that started back in middle school, when he was late one Tuesday and had to sit through Mrs Miller’s boring lecture about _time management_ and _personal responsibility_. Ever since then most Tuesdays tended to go wrong. Now of course, being an adult on paper, Tuesdays were terrible because they were Robin’s day off. Her and her mom always went and did something, Steve was never really sure what it was, but the words _women’s_ _retreat_ came up enough times for him to not ask anymore questions.

This particular Tuesday though, had started off wrong before he had even woken up. Or rather, didn’t. A power cut in the night had knocked his alarm clock out. Thankfully an internal body clock was still working, even if that one was a little slow, and meant he had five minutes to get dressed and out of the house or be cursed with being written up if  _ Scoops _ area manager was on patrol and just happened to stop by.

As much as Steve hated his job, he still needed it. And he couldn’t afford to be written up again. He was just going to have to suffer a bad hair day. 

Traffic to the mall didn’t swing in his favour either. It was bad enough wearing the scratchy sailor uniform in the real world, but being stuck in traffic in 80 degree heat before it was even ten was a special kind of hell. Especially when it wasn’t moving so no cool air could breeze through his car. He closed his eyes and counted to ten. If all the terrible stuff was out of the way first thing then the rest of the day would be smooth sailing.

Right?

Speed walking through the mall five minutes late wasn’t the end of the world. Thankfully. And there wasn’t anyone around to write him up. Thankfully. But it did mean he arrived to a line just waiting for him to unlock the doors and be served.

Tuesday was Two Scoops Day. Steve  _ hated _ Two Scoops Day. Another genius bit of marketing thought up by people in offices who had never actually worked in a  _ Scoops _ franchise before. Buy one get one free. It meant Steve was going to be busy all day. With little relief and no help. In a scratchy uniform and already sweating from being in an overly hot car.

The only real upside was the day would go quickly. It usually did. And hopefully all the bad misfortune had already been dealt.

**10:30**

A blonde girl with pigtails and glasses had her face pressed into the glass of the ice cream cabinet. Breathing condensation onto it. Licking it. Like she could taste the flavours through the glass somehow that way. She couldn’t have been older than six, but it was still annoying. Maybe because it was completely gross to lick something that practically every person who came into the store touched without question. 

Steve could clean it more sure, but they could pay him more first.

She kept changing her mind about what flavour she wanted. It wouldn’t have been annoying if Steve’s day thus far had been going on track. He had a lot of time for the kids that came in, full of excitement and soon to be sugar. It was the caring side of him. It was only really annoying because there was a line to the door, and even then that wasn’t her fault. The person she was with wasn’t helping matters either. Forcing the girl to pick faster and hurry up. Making her panic and keep changing her mind.

Not that Steve could say anything about maybe waiting a damn minute and letting her choose because it’s only ice cream. No. Nothing more than a customer friendly face allowed.

Eventually she did choose. Steve gave her a bit extra. Her smile was kind of worth it, especially since it got her to stop licking the glass. There was a very obvious wet mark on the glass he’d need to deal with or just ignore until it got dry.

He chose to ignore it.

**12:42**

Steve could deal with a lot of customers. But he hated teenagers. He may still technically be one but there’s an ocean of difference between 13 and 18. A different level of maturity. A different level of understanding that comes with having a crappy job because your father is a total douchebag and you’re a total fuck up.

A small gang of 14 year olds sniggering at his  _ Scoops _ hat, which he already knew was stupid, wasn’t exaclty a great mood booster. One of them, clearly the leader with the way he walked, Steve knew that walk, came up to the counter and ordered a cone. This kid had the  _ audacity _ to try and steal the hat right off the top of Steve’s head as he was bent in the freezer. He recoiled back in shock more than anything else.

Who the  _ fuck _ does that?

The gang ran off laughing, of course, but it left Steve realing. Just. It was a lot to try and process. Who has that kind of mindset where they think that’s an okay thing to do? Plus, the stupid  _ Scoops _ hats cost ten dollars to replace.  _ Ten whole dollars _ . If the kid did manage to steal it, it would cost Steve four hours of his day to buy back from the company to keep his job, because it’s against company policy to work without one.

A part of Steve wanted to abandon ship, take a page out of Billy’s book, chase after them and give them a piece of his crappy day. But they were 14. He did a lot of dumb shit with Tommy at 14. Never stealing though. Setting off firecrackers Tommy’s cousin had brought back from New Mexico under his elderly neighbour’s porch to scare the shit out of her pomeranian, sure. But never stealing. That was a step too far. Instead, Steve just closed his eyes and breathed. Counted to ten and carried on. 

That’s what adults do after all.

**13:14**

The freezer died. Not a ‘went off for a little bit, and decided to start working again with a not so gentle kick’. No. It died. Completely. 100%. Dead. 

This was a major problem for a store that sells ice cream and ice cream related foods.

Steve knew enough about gadgets and gizmos to know it was nothing he could fix himself. Not without a mechanical degree in freezers. As stated in the employee handbook, anything detrimental to the productivity of the company must be reported to a dedicated number.

So that's what Steve did. After making a little sign for the counter though.  _ Back in five minutes _ . He found the number pinned to the noticeboard out back and called, expecting it would be short and sweet, an easy fix. Sorry to hear about your problem, we’ll get an engineer out asap.

Five minutes on hold turned into ten, turned into twenty. Turned into half an hour. Turned into forty minutes. Forty minutes solid of hold music. The same music that’s pumped through  _ Scoops _ speakers to  _ set the mood _ of the establishment.

That nautical music haunted Steve. He heard it everywhere now. In the shower, in his car, in his kitchen, out running errands. He’d heard it in bed once, instead of whatever Billy was muttering into his ear that stupid music came through instead. From nowhere. Steve had never gotten so soft so fast. Everything practically shriveled back up inside in horror at what his brain had let him hear at that exact moment. Of course Billy got concerned so he had to explain, and now the bastard would never let Steve forget the time he got soft because of sailors. 

“Yeah?” An incredibly bored voice finally crackled through the phone. It was a terrible connection but god it was better than that music.

“Hi? Yeah, the freezers broken, I’m at Star-”

“Just press the reset button on the front of the unit.”

The line went dead. Just as Steve went to ask what reset button? He felt his jaw tighten in anger and slammed the phone back into his holder, storming through the swing door to a small crowd of annoyed looking customers. 

Yeah, five minutes had clearly been a lie.

Steve chose to ignore a lot of angry glares and knelt in front of the freezer unit, searching all over for the mystery button that was actually hidden on the left hand side. So not the front at all Mr Phone Man Who Was No Help At All. He pressed it once and put his hand inside to feel if the unit was getting cold again. Pressed it again when he felt nothing. And then a third time. Still nothing. Steve sighed defeatedly and rested his head against the smooth metal, just for a moment, just to try and block out the wider world and think more clearly on how to fix the problem that was quickly becoming a big issue.

Someone knocked on the glass loudly. Knocking him out of his thoughts and potential plan to call Dustin. That kid knew how to fix things, maybe he could just look at this for a couple minutes and help. The same someone knocked again when Steve didn’t react right away. The initial glare he shot up through the glass couldn’t be contained, but he quickly forced it to melt away. Customer friendly face back on. Try to save this situation, this whole day, somehow.

The guy who had knocked was built like a football player. Had some girl on his arm so was clearly trying to be the big man about everything. Steve had seen it before. Many times. He didn’t look high school age, maybe second year of college. Probably a scholarship kid back home for the summer.

“You workin’ or what?” He spoke gruffly, trying to impress. Speak down to someone lower down on the food chain like that shit was still important.

Steve hoped he’d never been like that.

“Well, the freezer’s broken, so I can’t really serve you just now. I’m trying to fix it.” Steve’s customer voice was pretty alien to his ears. It was all proper and polite. A voice his father would approve of for talking to clients.

“We’ve been waitin’ for a while. Why does that matter?” He gestured to the freezer with a sweeping motion. The freezer full of ice cream that was melting in their individual flavour tubs. The  _ freezer _ full of  _ ice cream _ that was  _ melting _ in their individual flavour tubs in an  _ ice cream store. _

Steve hoped he’d never been that stupid either.

Steve bit his tongue hard, felt his jaw get tight again before breathing just once. Reminding himself that he was terrible at fights and it wasn’t worth getting into one right now. Reminding himself that as crappy and as terrible as this job was, he  _ needed _ it. He needed to prove to his father that he wasn’t a disappointment.

“I will serve you as soon as it’s fixed.” He brought his concentration back to the button. Kept stabbing at it, now with growing rage, like the harder he pressed it and the longer he pressed it for it would fix everything. Not just the freezer. Would reset and restart his whole day. One more stab and he’d be back in his bed. It would be Wednesday and he could enjoy his day off. Go bother Billy at the pool. Ogle him sat up on that chair behind a pair of sunglasses, self satisfied that he was the only one going home with the hot lifeguard, get an otter pop or two...

Another hard knock burst that daydream. The same guy. At least the girl on his arm had the decency to look embarrassed now. Steve’s last thread snapped as he got to his feet. Most of the crowd had gone upon hearing the news of the freezer. But this guy clearly had a point to prove. Something to show off. Make himself look big by making others look small.

“Who’s your manager kid? You can’t treat payin’ customers like this.”

_ Kid? _

Steve smiled curtly, turned to write down the details of the area manager on some receipt paper and slapped it down with force onto the counter. A million things ran through his mind of what to say.

_ You haven’t paid yet so you’re not a customer. You’re just trespassing. _

_ I’ve already told you, you fucking  _ meathead _ , I’m trying to fix this stupid shit, so shut the fuck up and get the fuck out. _

_ She’s gonna cheat on you with someone who has decency you pencil necked chode. _

“Knock yourself out,” is what came out instead. It might not have been the best thing to say, but all things considered Steve thought it was almost polite. The guy took the paper and left. His girl mouthed  _ sorry _ over her shoulder. 

He’d be hearing about that during his next shift for sure.

**17:00**

It had taken hours but Steve had gotten the freezer working again. The button was round the back. Not the front, or the side, or underneath as he thought at one point. The ice cream that had been inside was ruined. So he closed up early, made a note for the front to keep customers away, did some  _ basic _ cleaning and made himself a mint choc chip milkshake which was just a cup of melted mint chocolate chip ice cream. It wasn’t the worst part of the day.

No, the worst part was when he got outside and it was instantly 92 degrees. The mall was nice and air conditioned. He had no idea it had gotten so hot outside. Nothing was helped by the fact the air was like soup. Thick and humid and just everywhere. He worked up a sweat just walking to his car, which he didn’t think to park in the shady spots around the edge of the lot because he was late and didn’t have time to think like that.

The sheer wall of heat that practically burst free from his poor BMW was criminal. The leather crackled when he went to sit and burnt skin that wasn’t covered by a uniform that was now sticking to him and irritating him further. Once he got driving though it would be fine. A breeze would surely come in from the rolled down windows and he’d be home soon. Into a nice air conditioned room. He had enough cash to order pizza to save cooking anything and there was still a copy of  _ Beverly Hills Cop _ to watch before he had to return it. Things would finally start looking up.

Except when Steve turned the key to start the engine, it just made a low murmuring noise. Dread and desperation washed through him as he tried again, just to be met by the same noise. He threw his stupid fucking hat into the back seats and hit the stearing wheel a few times out of sheer frustration and annoyance for the whole day, screaming at no one and kicking his legs in the space before the pedals to just let it out. Two deep breaths later he popped the hood.

Steve may not know much about freezers, but basic car mechanics he at least felt half confident with.

It was 18:30 when he realised it was a loose battery cable. With everything connected the old girl sounded smooth as ever. And not a moment too soon. The sun had cooked the backs of his calves not hidden by stupidly long socks. The leather sounded even dryer now as he drove home, the seat irritating his new burn that would need attention later.

Billy’s camaro was already in the driveway when he pulled up.

Steve’s heart just lurched in his chest. He had never needed a hug more.

He pushed his way through more heat, more thick soup, into the cool of his house and straight to Billy, who had taken up a home on the couch in the den listening to his dumb metal records on Steve’s player. He was still wearing his lifeguard shorts and tank, but didn’t look as sunkissed as usual.

“Hey! You’ll never guess. Some kid threw up in the pool so-”

Steve put his hand over Billy’s mouth gently. Not now. Later. When he’d calmed down and recovered. Billy just watched with calm blue eyes as Steve kicked his sneakers off into the middle of the room to be abandoned until tomorrow maybe, and moved to straddle Billy’s thighs, pressing himself up into the wider frame, putting his forehead on a broad shoulder before he took his hand back and sighed. Billy smelt like sunscreen. That smell was weirdly comforting now. Billy looped his arms around Steve and just held him close and tight. He could be an asshole sometimes but he at least understood social cues and when his boyfriend needed to just be held for a moment. He rubbed his fingers through Steve’s no doubt sweaty hair, and the taller boy just melted.

“Rough day?”

“You have no idea…”

**Author's Note:**

> A small love letter to everyday frustrations I've had over the years working terrible customer service roles. Because I've had a job where the freezer broke and it was hell.
> 
> [Tumblr page.](https://bird-in-a-cage.tumblr.com/)


End file.
